Recombination rate and selection strength in HIV intra-patient evolution.

ABSTRACT: The evolutionary dynamics of HIV during the chronic phase of infection is driven by the host immune response and by selective pressures exerted through drug treatment. To understand and model the evolution of HIV quantitatively, the parameters governing genetic diversification and the strength of selection need to be known. While mutation rates can be measured in single replication cycles, the relevant effective recombination rate depends on the probability of coinfection of a cell with more than one virus and can only be inferred from population data. However, most population genetic estimators for recombination rates assume absence of selection and are hence of limited applicability to HIV, since positive and purifying selection are important in HIV evolution. Yet, little is known about

SUBMITTER: Neher RA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2813257 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature